Cleveland Elam
Appearance
No. 72 | |||||||||
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Position: | Defensive tackle Defensive end | ||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||
Born: | Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. | April 5, 1952||||||||
Died: | July 12, 2012 Salisbury, North Carolina, U.S. | (aged 60)||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
Weight: | 252 lb (114 kg) | ||||||||
Career information | |||||||||
College: | Tennessee State | ||||||||
NFL draft: | 1975 / round: 4 / pick: 85 | ||||||||
Career history | |||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Cleveland Elam (April 5, 1952 – July 12, 2012) was a National Football League (NFL) defensive tackle who played for the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions in an injury-shortened five-year career that lasted from 1975 to 1979
Teaming with Cedric Hardman, Jimmy Webb and Tommy Hart, the 49ers Gold Rush defensive line led the NFL in sacks during the 1976 season. Elam had 14.5 sacks in 1976 and led the team with 17.5 sacks in 1977.
Elam played college football at Tennessee State University and was drafted in the fourth round of the 1975 NFL draft by the 49ers. He was a two time Pro Bowler in 1976 and 1977.
Elam died on July 12, 2012. He was survived by his wife Blanche and four children.[1]
References
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Categories:
- 1952 births
- 2012 deaths
- Players of American football from Memphis, Tennessee
- American football defensive tackles
- Tennessee State Tigers football players
- San Francisco 49ers players
- National Conference Pro Bowl players
- Detroit Lions players
- 20th-century American sportsmen
- American football defensive lineman, 1950s birth stubs